The magnitude of the problem is such that in 1975 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a resolution calling on Governments and international organizations to make efforts to reduce food losses in developing countries by 50% by 1985. As a consequence FAO established in 1977 a programme for the prevention of food losses and, in 1983 UNEP published guidelines for the reduction of such losses. In response to the same General Assembly Resolution, a Joint FAO/UNEP Conference on Mycotoxins was convened in Nairobi, Kenya, in September 1977.Since then, and over the past 10 years, national governments and international organizations such as FAQ, WHO and UNEP have carried out a number of activities in these areas. Such activities at the international level and complementary studies by national and international research institutions have increased the understanding of the mycotoxin problem and have shown the effectiveness of certain approaches in controlling mycotoxin contamination.